| Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi | |
| Office: | Central Shia Board of Waqf, Uttar Pradesh |
| Birthname: | Syed Waseem Rizvi |
| Successor: | Swami Sarang |
| Birth Place: | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Spouse: | Radha Awasthi |
| Relatives: | Yasoob Abbas |
| Occupation: | Debater Filmmaker[1] Politician |
| Term Start: | 1995 |
| Term End: | 2020 |
Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi (born Syed Waseem Rizvi) is the former member and chairman of the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh, India.[2] He had chosen to undergo religious conversion to Hinduism on 6 December 2021.[3] He is known for filing a petition in India's Supreme Court, as well as producing the Bollywood film Ram Ki Janmabhoomi and The Diary of West Bengal.[4] [5]
He was elected a Samajwadi Party (SP) corporator from the Kashmiri Mohalla ward of Old City in Lucknow in 2000, and in 2008, became a member of the Shia Central Waqf Board. In 2012, Tyagi was expelled from the SP for six years after falling out with Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad, who accused him of misappropriation of funds.[6] Tyagi termed these charges as "cooked up" motivated by the desire to "weaken his argument". Tyagi later got relief from the court and was reinstated.[6]
In January 2018, Tyagi wrote to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the Prime Minister of India, seeking the abolition of Madrasas and said that some of them act as breeding grounds for terrorists instead of ensuring jobs for Muslims.[6] In response, a Bareilly based religious outfit All India Faizan-e-Madina Council (AIFMC) announced a bounty of Rs 1,000,786 and a free Hajj trip for anyone who beheads Tyagi.[7] In January 2020, Tyagi said that, "Some people believe that childbirth is a natural process and should not be interfered with. To give birth to more children like animals is harmful to society and country. It will be good for the country if a law is implemented for population control."[8] In an interview he said that he did not like being called a Muslim, which to him was like being called a "cruel, wild beast", he added that he was very much a Muslim, but if that placed him in that same category as the Taliban he would rather identify himself as a human. In another interview, he declared that he has left Islam.
On 12 March 2021, Tyagi filed a petition in the Supreme Court, where he appealed to remove 26 verses from the Quran.[9] He has claimed in the petition that these verses promote violence among Muslims.[10] The petition says these 26 verses were not part of the original Quran but were inserted at a later stage.[11] In response, there has been condemnation from Muslim bodies of both Shia and Sunni sects of Islam.[12] [13] They have demanded Tyagi's arrest.[14] The ruling BJP has also protested his petition.[15] A lawyer from Moradabad announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh for "beheading" Tyagi, while Shiane Haider-e-Karrar Welfare Association, a Muslim organisation in Uttar Pradesh, declared a Rs 20,000 reward for Tyagi's beheading.[6]